Tuesday, 21 February 2012

Chicken and Chorizo triangles

Now, I'm a girl who likes leftovers, and manys the day that I will deliberarely plan leftovers to make "tomorrows" meal as I find it economical both in money and often just as importantly TIME.... As there are just 2 in my household, when we have roast chicken, there are always leftovers - and if you strip the little birdie properly, a lot more than you can sometimes believe! So I do love things I can make with little bits of chicken. This recipe is inspired on a squash and feta triangle from Cooking with Pumkins and Squash by Brian Glover - a very fine book indeed if like me you like a good squash and it makes a fantastic party nibble. So when we decided to throw a surprise 50th for a friend this week, and I had half a chicken going spare, I decided to adapt the veggie delight into something altogether more carniverous.

The measurements aren't precise - it all depends on how many triangles you want to make. One pack of pastry will make 12 good sized parcels of 16 smaller ones. My starting point was how much chicken I had left - I used the meat from 2 wings, one leg, the oysters and all the other "bits" under and around but no breast. This yielded me about 6 tablespoons of chicken once cut into cubes (very small - a little less than 1cm cubes). I then added everything else to balance - about half the amount of onion, courgette and chorizo to chicken - all cubed to the same size.

Fry the chorizo to get it a little crispy and release the oil - remove with slotted spoon reserving the oil. Add the onion and courgette and soften in the chorizo oil. Add 1 teaspoon of harissa (or more if you prefer it with a kick) and a drizzle of honey. Once the onion is softened and transluscent, remove from the heat and add the chicken and chorizo (you can do it in a bowl if you prefer, I was trying to reduce washing up!) Add the zest of a lemon and a large handfull of chopped parsley, season and stir. Add chopped gherkins (or capers) to taste - you want a bit of balance between the heat, the sweet and the sour which the pickles and lemons provide.

Leave to cool slightly while you prepare the filo. Cut the sheets into 3 (or 4) equal strips from top to bottom on the longest length of the sheets. I take them 3 at a time and leave the rest covered to avoid drying. Brush half of each length with melted butter or olive oil (or I use a mix of the two). On the non buttered half put a spoonful of the chicken mixture in a triangle as pictured below. Getting a rough triangluar shaped pile is important as this is what creates the finished shape.

All we need to do now is keep folding the triangles over each other so that all the open edges are eventually sealed in. See the series of photos below as I photographed each stage to hopefully indicate where to fold it as its quite complicated to explain in writing.

Now all the edges are sealed, just fold them over again so the triangles are 2 layers thick all the way around.

Bake at 180 for 10 - 15 minutes until golden and crispy. Eat hot or cold. If like me you need to take them to a party, they can also be part cooked (just about 7 minutes until the pasty cooks enough to hold its shape) then open freeze. They can then be reheated and the cooking process finished on party day.

About Me

Hi - I'm Tara a food and craft obsessive who like a magpie is drawn to all things that sparkle! I am now living my crafting dream and own my own online craft supply store Make the Day Special Stamp Store which specialises in importing hard to source US craft brands.